Improved SDA Interconnect Cables

Comments

Do you have the revised manual for the SDA Interconnect Cables ? If so, do you have it in PDF format ?

I have an SDA-1C which I would love to improve the sound on, especially in the high frequency area. These speakers have the original sub, woofer, baffles and tweeters on them. Nothing has been replaced since purchasing them 16 years ago. These babys give great bass, but at the sacrafice of the highs, compared to the SDA 2 speakers. I will deffinetly be replacing the plastic binding posts with gold plated posts on these speakers. Thinking of using Cardas for the binding posts.

Do you know of any tweeter improvements that could be made to bring out the highs that are hindered in these speakers ? Do you know of any horn tweeters that could replace the tweeters without having to do any cutting to the cabinet ?

Do you know of any tweeter improvements that could be made to bring out the highs that are hindered in these speakers ? Do you know of any horn tweeters that could replace the tweeters without having to do any cutting to the cabinet ?

Thanks much !!!

Disco-Mike

Horn tweeters? are you out of your mind?

If you look around here, Polk has a drop in replacemnt for your SL2000's, it is a silk doom and EVERYONE loves the improvement. Call customer service and ask for the RD0194-1 tweeter.

Do you have the revised manual for the SDA Interconnect Cables ? If so, do you have it in PDF format ?

Mike,

Welcome to the forum.

I assume you mean the 2nd Edition SDA Compendium? I have not published it yet. I was planning on putting it out in December of 2005. However, I had to reprioritize my time due to some unplanned visits a couple of rude ladies (Katrina & Rita). The past few months have been taken up with

Items 1, 2, 4, and 5 have been completed. I expect items 3 and 6 will continue for another couple of months. This will give me just enough "down" time to get ready for the 2006 hurricane season, which officially begins June 1st. :eek:

"So hot it burnsMice!"~DK
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK

Do you know of any horn tweeters that could replace the tweeters without having to do any cutting to the cabinet ?

No, and this is not something I would recommend. If you like horn tweeters, you would get better sound quality using a speaker that was designed for them.

This question brings to mind the sound of fingernails scraping across a chalk board.

"So hot it burnsMice!"~DK
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK

OK, I think I just upset the Polk community by mentioning those two magical words... "horn tweeters". Judging by the feedback, I hereby recall the request to place horn tweeters in my beloved SDA-1C speakers, and will opt for a silked dome tweeter (will need to purchase 4 since two are used for each speaker). Hopefully, the speaker gods will not punish me for the request and allow me into Polk heaven when that time comes.

Several years back, I heard some Klipsh speakers in a showroom producing highs that my SDA-1Cs could not achive. Of course, the sales person pointed out that the Klipshs were equipped with horn tweeters which is what gave the highs its unique sound. Judging by the Klipshs and listening to my friends SDA 2s which produced better highs, but not as much bottoms as my 1Cs, I went by the assumption that speakers that have better bass would come at the expense of reproducing highs. Since purchasing the 1Cs 16 years ago, speaker manufactures combatted this tendancy by producing bi-amp speakers, or at least, that is my assumption, hence my request for dropping a horn tweeter into the Polks.

In order to answer the burning question that is on everyones mind - Darque - yup, I am talking about the 2nd edition compendium. Sorry to hear about your setbacks. If "the ladies in your life" (Katrina and Rita) cant behave themselves, then I say to cancel valentines day on them. No chocolate, no roses... PERIOD !!! Better yet, have THEM take you out for dinner and a movie !!! Dont settle for McDonalds and a DVD rental as a substitute !!! Have them wine and dine you !!!

Would you have any price estimates on what the speaker upgrades would cost ? I'm willing to purchase new tweeters, binding posts, and an SDA cable, which my speaker configuration is of the pin-blade type. Do you recommend new crossovers as well ? I would like to get better high frequencies from the speakers. Ive been pretty happy with the vocals and bass end. Spacialness and stereo seperation has always been good with these babies, but if more could be gotten from a bit of upgrading, then I would be for it.

Lets hope at the end, that the upgrade costs doesnt come to the cost of the speakers themselves. If thats the case, perhaps we should come out with our own speaker manufacture line.

"So hot it burnsMice!"~DK
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK

Thanks, but no need to be sorry. I'm doing fine. My experience in all this has (thankfully) been limited to mere inconvenience.

"So hot it burnsMice!"~DK
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK

I have ONE 15+ ft run of Audioquest Midnight speaker cable (4 x 14awg in a Hyperlitz braid, dark blue outter jacket). Chuck, I have your run already set aside. HIGH end cable, retailed for 10 or 12 bucks a foot in it's day.

Caveat, you are going to use it for an SDA cable, based on Raife's thread, and will post details and (hopefully) pictures of the finished product. First come, first served BUT only if you intend to support this thread with the results.

Cheers,
Russ

Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.

DarqueNight, I'm wondering if you like the Monster Z2 Reference as a generic speaker cable, or was your use of it restricted to the custom interconnect? I just did a bit of searching, and it seems the Z2 Reference prices out at about $5/foot, except for here:

DarqueNight, I'm wondering if you like the Monster Z2 Reference as a generic speaker cable, or was your use of it restricted to the custom interconnect? I just did a bit of searching, and it seems the Z2 Reference prices out at about $5/foot, except for here:

This almost seems like a "too good to be true" price, but at $1.29/foot, I'd use it for the main speaker cables too!!!

Go for it and use it for the SDA interconnect. For speaker cables I suggest that you consider Signal Cable. There is a lot of testimony here about the results using their Silver Resolution cables. Look Here

DarqueNight, I'm wondering if you like the Monster Z2 Reference as a generic speaker cable, or was your use of it restricted to the custom interconnect?

I use Z2 Reference in my office rig at work and in my home theater system. I use Z3 Reference in my master bedroom system. I also used Z3 in my two channel rig for a long time until the upgrade bug started biting.:) I bought my Z2 off of eBay from a guy who was selling lengths off a spool. That is a good price for the Z2 in your link, assuming they are legit.

I concur that the Signal speaker cables offer better resolution over Z2.

"So hot it burnsMice!"~DK
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK

DarqueNight, I'm wondering if you like the Monster Z2 Reference as a generic speaker cable, or was your use of it restricted to the custom interconnect? I just did a bit of searching, and it seems the Z2 Reference prices out at about $5/foot, except for here:

Go for it and use it for the SDA interconnect. For speaker cables I suggest that you consider Signal Cable. There is a lot of testimony here about the results using their Silver Resolution cables. Look Here

Hmmm, these are about 20X as expensive as the Monster Z2 price through that site. Given that my application actually requires quite short cables, I don't think I can afford not to try the Z2 for my main speaker cable Considering a pair of 6 foot cables will cost $15 (unterminated), it's a pretty low risk experiment...

Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.

DarqueNight, picky but important question - do you recall which size Monster spade you used on top of the base piece to pair with the Cardas CCGR-S binding post? The choices are MAS-H (0.250"), LAS-H (0.330"), and XLAS-H (0.339"). Just wondering which ones to purchase...

Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.

DarqueNight, I'm wondering if you like the Monster Z2 Reference as a generic speaker cable, or was your use of it restricted to the custom interconnect? I just did a bit of searching, and it seems the Z2 Reference prices out at about $5/foot, except for here:

This almost seems like a "too good to be true" price, but at $1.29/foot, I'd use it for the main speaker cables too!!!

Buy from them w/o out hesitation. I bought some IXOS cable from them and it shipped very quickly without issue. Good company in my limited experience.

H9

"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass

If you get them with bananas you won't have to worry about what size to get.

Nspindel, 6 foot is too short, get 10 foot at a minimum. A word of caution, fitting the Cardas posts requires great care. You can't just drill out a round hole, they have to have a shoulder.

Political Correctness'.........defined

"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

Even if the speakers are relatively close together with the amp in the middle? I had always thought shorter is better, but keep the cables the same length. Curious why the standard length for those Signal Cable Silver Resolutions in the link above would be 6 feet?

Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.

DarqueNight, picky but important question - do you recall which size Monster spade you used on top of the base piece to pair with the Cardas CCGR-S binding post? The choices are MAS-H (0.250"), LAS-H (0.330"), and XLAS-H (0.339"). Just wondering which ones to purchase...

The medium angled spades (MAS-H - 0.25") are a perfect fit for the Cardas posts. Monster's screw-on banana pins make a nice tight connection in the Cardas posts, but I preferred the spades because there is less strain on the cable/connector joint since the cable is not hanging down at a 90 degree angle. Plus, you can control the tightness of the connection with spades.

"So hot it burnsMice!"~DK
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK

I'm still a bit confused about the whole 1 or 2 conductor question on the pin-blade interconnects. I pulled my crossovers out of my 2B's yesterday for the TL upgrade I'm going to start doing, and was checking out the connections for the SDA cable. There's definitely two wires connected to the pin-blade post. One is obviously carrying the dimensional signal, the other is shorted to the ground terminal of the main speaker posts. So wouldn't there need to be a second conductor in the sda interconnect which connects the two grounds together, thus creating the common ground of the speakers? A single conductor cable would carry the dimensional signal, but where does the common ground get connected?

I suppose you could always save yourself the cost of a binding post and just run speaker wire between the grounds of the main speaker posts, but the single-conductor description of the stock pin-blade sda interconnect is not making sense to me given what I see inside the cabinet.

Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.